Podcasting is one of the latest addition to online advertising. The term has been developed as a combination of “broadcasting” and “iPod”— referring to Apple’s MP3 player, although nowadays any MP3 player can play the content.
Podcasts are web based audio broadcasts, which can be downloaded as an MP3 file or subscribe to a feed which allows them to stream new podcasts whenever available. What we have to do is just look on the Internet find podcasts which we are interested in, subscribe to them and then get them synchronized into our MP3 device.
With the podcasts we can now listen to our favorite programs, talk shows while jogging, driving to work, etc. They also make it possible to listen to early morning news later during the day. Standing in line in front of cinema not knowing which movie to watch, you can still listen to movie reviews via podcasts.
Sweneey et al. (2006) mention the many benefits that podcasts bring to subscribers:
1. "They get great content on subjects that interest them."
Nowadays you have podcasts on any topic you can think of, from online advertising to various cooking advices. Lot of podcast directories pop up when browsing the internet which eases our work to find the content you are looking for. As podcasts are distributed via RSS feeds, it also makes it possible to subscribe only to podcasts we are interested in.
2. "The technology puts the subscribers in control."
Podcasts give to user freedom and possibility to access whatever they want and listen to it whenever they want and wherever they are. You do not have to sit in front of your computer anymore to listen to a podcast or tune a radio within its frequency range. You can be beside the pool, exercising, on the plane and still listen to a podcast.
3. "Content, at this stage, is often still free to the subscriber."
As for now, all the podcast content is free of charge, not a single penny should be paid to listen or subscribe to a podcast source. However, in near future things might change and podcast providers might ask for a fee if they get known for their excellent content. Still others may decide to use podcasts as marketing tool not to charge a fee to their users.
4. "Podcast content is very often niched."
This gives great, highly targeted opportunity to the podcast sources to target their niche market. Moreover, it is also of great interest for the podcast users as they are looking for sources which suite their interests.
Sweneey et al. (2006) also suggest that usually podcast users are looking for control and ad avoidance, which asks the podcast marketers to be more sensitive and tilt their podcasts in a way that would have suited the needs of target markets and not annoying them with lot of advertising. Too much advertising will make them unsubscribe from your podcast. Likewise, internet marketers should look for ways on how to incorporate their message within the content of their podcasts rather than an advertisement.
Source: Sweneey et al. (2006): 3G Marketing on the Internet.
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